toURIng

We put the URI in toURIng.

Love us or hate us, URI campus tour guides interact with and have an impact on hundreds of prospective students and families. After two rounds of interviews and a ten week training process, I feel qualified to break down the process of conducting a tour step by step.

As a campus tour guide, your first responsibility is to gather your prospective students and families, introduce your group to the university and yourself to the group. Start with your name, major, and hometown; gain a feel for the crowd before sharing a fun fact or a joke, you still have plenty of time to fit those in. You’re going to want to let them know how long they’ll be on your tour (an hour and a half) and that you’ll be walking backwards for the majority of it (so they can warn you if you’re about to hit a pole, which happens). Tell your group that they are more than welcome to ask questions throughout the tour and can ask you to speak up if they have difficulty hearing as well. Signal for them to follow you and take off!

The tour is easily broken down into 3 sections: academics, athletics, and residential life/dining. The first section is academics. This section is heavy on facts and figures, make it a priority to liven things up a bit. Tell your group about an experience you’ve had in each academic building you walk through or how you were able to utilize the university’s academic resources to secure high scores in your courses. I always mention the Dunkin’ Donuts in our CBLS, the Makerspace in the library (which offers 3D printing and a virtual reality station!), and the free tutoring offered through Roosevelt Hall. You’ll notice some students drift away after long spiels about academic programs they aren’t interested in, do your best to keep them engaged with personal stories!

The last two sections of the tour are interesting by nature. The students realistically only came to the university to see the residential halls and to hear about campus life. As a tour guide, you are a URI student and have most likely lived on campus. Share your experiences, ask the students what they might be interested in and do your best to talk about clubs and organizations that the university offers that may pertain to the students’ interests. Always rely on your personality and use your common sense during sticky situations. Remember that you are an ambassador of the university and are responsible for selling the school in its most positive form.

When you conclude your tour, remember to mention these crucial deadlines: Early Action, Regular Admission, FAFSA, and the security deposit (decision day). Open the floor for any last minute questions or concerns. Thank the students and families for being such an incredible group (even if they barely said a word and refused to laugh at your jokes). Let them know that they will receive an evaluation form of yourself via email and that you would appreciate a positive review (be sure to re-state your name as well). Remind them that you will be in the Welcome Center after the tour to answer any additional questions or for lunch recommendations.

After giving tours to prospective students and families on Welcome Day!

There you have it, you have completed your tour! Pay yourselves for 2.5 hours and don’t forget to write some postcards for each prospective student.